Super-sized bronze casting: 3D-puzzle on PERI UP scaffolding

Feb 3, 2015

Press release set

Pegasus Sculpture, Gulfstream Park, Hallandale Beach, USA

For the erection of the extraordinary Pegasus bronze sculpture in Miami/Florida, PERI UP Rosett Flex provided optimal working conditions. The modular scaffold system proved once again just how flexible and versatile it is, adapting to the complex geometry in 25 cm increments.

The Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Florida is located between Miami and Fort Lauderdale, and is home to one of the most famous racetracks in the world. Austrian-Canadian businessman and horse expert, Frank Stronach, is currently expanding the Stronach Group-owned facility through the addition of a theme park. At its centre, since the end of 2014, stands a spectacular piece of bronze artwork: Pegasus, the fabled winged horse from Greek mythology, forms an ensemble with a dragon as a symbol of positive strength and the victory of good over evil.

3D-puzzle with 1,250 bronze pieces

The oversized sculpture is an impressive 33 m high and – Pegasus together with the dragon – over 60 m long. In order to realize such magnitude in connection with the organic shape in bronze, seemed an unbelievable, virtually impossible challenge at the beginning for all members of the project management team.

Located in the Swabian region of Germany, Göppingen-based Strassacker art casting foundry together with the Stark engineering consultancy from Ludwigsburg, who were commissioned to undertake the costing, calculation and design of the steel structure, developed an implementation concept. As a result, this allowed 250 t and 400 t of bronze and steel respectively to be formed in a period of only 2 years thus realising the customer´s conceptual presentation in a larger than life format. A total of 1,250 bronze parts were ultimately needed to assemble the sculpture as a 3D puzzle around the supporting steel structure. The dimensions were truly enormous: each of the castings was approx. 3 m² large and weighed 200 kg, having being elaborately produced by a partner company in China according to Strassacker specifications and then shipped to Florida.

Flexible scaffold solution

In order to be able to safely realise the bronze sculpture on site as well as within the planned time frame, the Miami-based scaffolding contractor, Scafform, used the PERI UP Rosett Flex modular scaffold system. Its metric 25 cm scaffold grid provided the required high level of flexibility for creating suitable working and access levels for the craftsmen and metal designers – adapted on the outside and inside to match the complex, organic form as well as continuously following the erection progress.

In addition, auxiliary building sections simultaneously under construction which were to be joined to the sculpture also had to be taken into account during the scaffold planning and assembly. For this, PERI UP could be ideally combined with system components taken from the VARIOKIT engineering construction kit – a big advantage, especially for large-span bridging. Both systems are based on the metric grid arrangement, can be quickly assembled by means of compatible connecting elements, and are also available at short notice from the extensive PERI rental programme.